Our Short Stories part 2
by kuribon
Summary: Collection of drabbles for SasuSaku Month 2014.
1. Smell of Fresh Paint: The Best Father

**Title:** The Best Father  
**Summary:** Sakura comes home from a stressful day at the hospital. Word count: 594  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** 01 - The smell of fresh paint.  
**Rating:** K  
**Warning(s):** None.  
**Comments:** Father!Sasuke because I can. Ill write more on my headcanon for SS kids in the future. Hinted NaruHina.

* * *

Sakura let out a sigh as she closed the front door behind her. It had been a long day in the hospital; two separate missions (one by a rookie genin team and one by an experienced ANBU squad) had gone terribly wrong, and the medical staff found itself with their hands full. Especially for Sakura, the director of the hospital. And even if in the end things hadn't gone as badly as they could, Sakura wasn't completely satisfied with her and the staff's work.

As she hung her lab coat and fully stepped into the house, she couldn't help but notice that it was completely quiet. Sakura soon assumed that Sasuke had taken Itachi out for training and Taro had also tagged along. While a part of her was grateful for the peaceful mood, she mostly felt disappointed. Her boys' smile would've surely cheered her up.

Making her way to the kitchen, she noticed an unusual mix of scents; a combination of hot chocolate, paint and cheese. Curious, Sakura peeked her head into the playroom, finding a sight that plastered a smile on her face.

The small bodies of Itachi and Taro were curled over the carpeted floor, sleeping peacefully, with the youngest of the two holding a stuffed cat doll.

But her kids were the only peaceful portion in the room... All their toys and stuffed animals were splattered around the room, two unfinished board games lied in a corner, a mug had been spilled close to the door, making it the source of the hot cocoa smell, and a bunch of paper and paint containers mixed over the table next to a plate with left over macaroni.

Too tired to get mad over the mess, Sakura couldn't help but think about Sasuke's whereabouts.

She carefully stepped in and got closer to her sons, trying not to step on something. She knelt next to them and watched them sleep, wondering what they were dreaming of while completely forgetting her stressful day.

"Ah, you're home" she heard coming from the door. She turned around to find her husband standing under the door frame, with a stack of paper in one hand and a mop in the other

"Sorry, I didn't hear you. I was in the backyard while the paintings dried" he continued, getting closer to her.

"Paintings? Let me see"

Sasuke gave her the stack of paper he was holding and asked "How was your day?". Sakura let out a sigh.

"Could have been better but... It was okay, I guess"

"Hm"

Sasuke picked the fallen mug up and proceeded to clean it's spilled content from the floor. Meanwhile, Sakura went through the paper sheets. They were all paintings made by their kids, which explained the mess over the table.

Taro's draws were still messy, as to be expected from a 2-year-old. Sakura thought she'd need the artist's help to understand them. Itachi's, on the other hand, she could easily figure out.

There was one of him playing ninja, one of Taro holding his beloved stuffed cat, one of her and Sasuke holding hands, one of _uncle_ Naruto and _aunt_ Hinata with their daughter Hitomi, and one of only Itachi and Hitomi that made Sakura giggle.

Once Sasuke finished cleaning the spilled drink, went to kneel next to her.

"Did you paint something?" she asked him.

"Art is not my thing" was his answer. She leaned her head over his shoulder while he wrapped an arm around her waist. They kept watching over their kids sleep.

"You're the best father, Sasuke" she whispered.


	2. Late: A Future Together

**Title:** A Future Together  
**Summary:** Sasuke wonders about Naruto and Sakura's relationship and what could've been if he had stayed in Konoha. Word count: 930.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** 02 - Late  
**Rating:** K+  
**Warning(s):** None.  
**Comments:** Hinted NaruHina again oops.

* * *

"Sakura-chan!" the Uzumaki shouted, catching the attention of all the people close to him and his best friend, including the pink haired girl across the street he was calling.

"Ah, Naruto, Sasuke-kun" she answered as she made her way towards them.

It was Sakura's day off, as she had no duties in the hospital nor any pending mission, and apparently, she also didn't plan on training that day, unlike her two teammates that were making their way from the training grounds. Because of this, Sakura was dressed in her casual attire, consisting in a pair of black shorts and a a red tank top, matching perfectly with the hot weather. A voice in the back of Sasuke's mind couldn't help but comment on how well those clothes fitted her.

"So, Sakura-chan, will you join me and the teme for lunch?"

The conversation between Naruto and Sakura continued, without either of them asking Sasuke for his opinion. After a few moments, the Uchiha began feeling out of place, as if they couldn't even notice him. A sensation he wasn't used to and, honestly, didn't like either.

His mind traveled a few months back, to the moment when the war had ended and Naruto went to celebrate with the alliance. Sakura, of course, had joined too, leaving the ever-antisocial Sasuke behind. It had been like that since them, with him feeling like a third wheel to his two partners. He quietly looked to the back of his blond best friend, now walking in front of him, and then to the girl that was walking by his side.

_"Are you my son's girlfriend?"_ the words the fourth Hokage had said just moments before Sasuke stepped into the battlefield, but where loud enough for him to listen, came back to his mind.

_"Ah, yes, something like that." _

Thinking back on it, it was always predictable. Naruto had been crushing on Sakura since they were kids, and now that they had been friends for years and Naruto was the village's hero, it was obvious for Sakura to fall for him, wasn't it? Still, the idea of the two of them having a relationship made Sasuke feel uneasy.

_"I love you with all my heart"_ she had declared to him on the night he left.

During his time with Orochimaru, Sasuke found himself thinking of his hometown more than he would ever admit. And his thoughts always ended up in a series of 'what if', imagining how his life would've been had he given up on revenge and had stayed with Team 7 since the beginning. A questioning that became more common after finding out the truth about his brother.

A life with Sakura would've been nice. Even if he wasn't usually openly-affectionate, it wasn't unusual for him to make exceptions for her. He cared for her in a level that unsettled him back during their genin days. He knew it was not a normal kind of friendship since a very long time ago.

So, during his time as a rogue ninja, more than once his mind has drifted into the possibility of having a future with Sakura. And, also more than once, he quietly hoped that she was still waiting for him back in Konoha. But apparently she had changed her mind and chosen the 'good guy' in the end. He didn't come back in time.

Sasuke, once again, looked to the backs of his two teammates, before to the ground, with a bad-mood expression on his face.

"Hey, isn't that Hinata?" he heard Sakura said.

"Ah, yeah... There she is" Naruto answered in a low tone, almost as a whisper that his ears wouldn't catch. Unexpectedly for Sasuke, Sakura laughed at the blond's reaction.

"If someone had ever told me that the noisy Uzumaki Naruto would be too scared to talk to a girl , I would have never believed it."

"I'm not scared! I'm just... giving Hinata some space"

"Space? To me it sounds as if you're too coward to ask her out" at this response, Sasuke head shot up again. What kind of girl tells his boyfriend to ask someone else out, after all.

"Look who's talking, Sakura-chan. The one that's too coward to make the first step isn't me," he teased. Sasuke could practically hear his grin on his face.

"Naruto, shut up."

"Oi, what if I go and ask Hinata to come with us for lunch? It would be like a double date! Me and Hinata, you and Sasu-"

"Naruto, shut up!" the girl's voice left no space for arguing. As usual, her bad temper sscared the poor Uzumaki.

"Jaa, I'm going to ask her then" he said before setting off towards the Hyuuga girl, leaving a confused Sasuke and a fuming Sakura behind.

"That... idiot... I'll kill him" she whispered.

"Double date, huh?" were the first words coming from the Uchiha's mouth since running into her earlier.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun, don't listen to Naruto,. You know that he always talks without thinking and-"

"Hn."

Sasuke cloesd the distance between them and took Sakura's hand into his. The pinkette opened her mouth in surprise, but words never came out from it. They stayed like that for a while, until they heard the voice of their friend calling them from the distance.

"Yo! Lovebirds! Are you coming or not?" Naruto screamed from a few meters in front of them, a blushing Hinata standing by his side with a hand around his arm.

"Let's go" Sasuke said, as they both followed behind. Maybe it wasn't too late for them to try a future together.


	3. Phobia: The Dying Daffodil

**Title:** The Dying Daffodil  
**Summary:** Because losing her smile would be losing his only happiness. Word count: 746.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** 03 - Phobia  
**Rating:** K+  
**Warning(s):** Mention of death.  
**Comments:** Late, I know ;;

* * *

Phobia: an intense fear or hatred of something.

It was a sunny day and the rays of light entered through the window, warming up the usually cold hospital room Sasuke was staying at.

He woke up and the first thing his eyes caught sight of was the clear crystal vase sitting on the table at his right. He knew that the flowers inside the vase hadn't just appeared by themselves. One of the three daffodils in the vase was starting to die, in such an ironic way that, to Sasuke it was almost funny. Just as that flower, he felt as if he was dying slowly, while his two teammates carried on full of life. He focused his sight on the freshest flower out of the bunch, and immediately thought of the person that had placed it there, and how he was loosing her.

He remembered being truly happy once. A long, long time ago. Before his brother had ripped him off everything he had ever found dear. Since then, his life was full of pain until being placed in a team with a bunch of idiots. However, he had grown to care about these idiots, as he had recently found out. Especially one of them.

Of course, he saw Kakashi as a mentor and Naruto as a rival. But with Sakura, the only girl in the team, he wasn't so sure. He hadn't been close to any woman since his mother,and never really cared about the girls that whispered around him or that were constantly looking at him. He found them all to be a nuisance.

But Sakura... With her, he didn't care if she stared at him while they were resting during a mission or while they went all for lunch at the ramen stand. In all honesty, he enjoyed when Sakura looked at him. And when she smiled at him, even if just for a moment, he felt something that was too similar to what he had felt back as an innocent infant. A sensation of complete peace and something else.

And because Sakura's smile reminded him so much of the happy days of his childhood, he wanted to protect it all at costs.

During their time in the Forest of Death, they both almost lost their lives, and in the end Sasuke had gotten a new power. And while his mind kept saying that he should use said power to defeat his brother, deep inside his wounded heart, he knew it was something to protect his precious people with.

Then there came the invasion of the Sound and the Sand, where Sasuke fought against that monster Gaara and had almost lost Sakura in the process. During that moment, Sasuke was more than ready to give up his life if that meant Sakura and her peaceful smile would be safe. The fear of losing the only source of happiness he had now was too much for his young mind to take. Dying was better than going through that pain again.

However, his somehow best friend Naruto had saved them all in the end.. And since then, Sasuke had wondered if he could ever be strong enough to defeat the man he hated the most. If that good-for-nothing brat was becoming stronger than him, the so-called Uchiha genius, something was going terribly wrong. His brother unwanted visit and reviving his clan massacre over and over again only confirmed this.

He knew. He knew that by staying in that village he would never make it. Not as long as he had distractions there.

The room door opened and Sakura came in with a basket full of apples.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun" she said, and greeted him with _that_ smile she always had for him. But this time, what he felt was fear, pain, regrets, guilt... they all mixed with one another and make, making him feel sick from his stomach. But more than anything, he felt jealousy.

Because that smile was now not only for him. He had seen her smile like that to Naruto too. Since he was weak and lacking of hatred, Naruto was getting stronger and better than him. And up until this moment, he had never thought there could be more than one way of losing Sakura's smile.

And the idea of living without it awoke the hatred in him.

It was because of this hatred, that he hurt her for the first time.

A petal fell from the dying daffodil.


End file.
